


An Inktale

by M E Watkins (TheNarrator_ME)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: A heck of a lot of other AUs, Dreamtale, Errortale, Gen, InkTale, Swaptale - Freeform, Underfresh - Freeform, Untertale (AU), aftertale, undertale - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-07 10:17:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10358127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNarrator_ME/pseuds/M%20E%20Watkins
Summary: Sometimes the worlds of one person can lead to the creation of thousands and for Undertale, there's only one skeleton who can bring those worlds to life; Ink Sans. Even though he remembers very little himself, he doesn't really mind, choosing to live off the dreams and creations of others. They're all he cares for and he wants nothing but the best for the worlds and friends he's brought to life. However, not all his creations feel the same way and a few would like nothing more then to see him dead.





	1. Worlds Begining

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, here I am trying something crazy. Writing a story that tries to combine all the mainstream AUs together with one story.  
> The reason this is a crazy idea because by the time I'm halfway done, someone's going to release something that completely ruins my story.  
> ...Oh well. Least it'll be fun trying. :)

_“Man….I am so tired today.”  
_ He slouched up against the nearby pillar, trying his best to look collected even as the exhaustion began to take hold. His head burned as if by fire, yet he knew the warm sensation dripping down his skull was blood. Blood that wasn’t his  
The golden windows of Judgement Hall were began to blur around him, their prophetic ‘angel’ fading into a swirl of soft yellows.  
Well, it depended on which angel you were talking about. Apparently there were some different interpretations….but none of them were true. At least not in this run, not really.  
Calling that thing any kind of angel was a joke and not a very funny one either.  
He dragged his gaze away from the windows to meet the being before him. Ragged hair coated in pale white dust, a sharpened knife clutched in their hand, a tattered purple shirt with pale pink stripes….or was that green with yellow stripes?  
Uhhh, he really wasn’t seeing straight today.  
Either way it didn’t matter, it was about to end anyway.  
How long had it been this run? How many resets had it taken? He’d stopped keeping track after a couple dozen.  
Man, the kid was really dragging this one out. They’d be only a couple seconds from victory, than die after forgetting an obvious attack. Over and over and over again they did this and every time his rage and hatred grew. Why, on top of everything else, did they have to torture him like this? To act like they’d never done this before? To give him some stupid shred of hope that they’d forgotten this scenario? That they might even…quit? The idea of them leaving for good seemed to be agonizingly close every time. Just the thought that he could be done with this….this game for good was almost too enticing.  
But every time they’d just come back to life to finish what they had started.  
And here they were now, surrounded by faint white magic that kept their precious FIGHT button out of reach.  
He felt his weakening hands shake inside his pockets. It felt as if they’d been holding that thing back for hours. If it were anyone else, they’d have left long ago. Clearly there was no way to hit the FIGHT button as long as that magic remained. But after so many runs and tries, of course they knew better. They stood still, not daring to make a move until the time was perfect. And it would only be a matter of time. Their calm patience, their precious DETERMINATION, wrapped into an almost calm expression. Those dead eyes were locked squarely upon him and they didn’t seem quite so dead anymore. Something in the twisted mind behind them shone through; a lust for what would be coming, what they would do and the pleasure they would take in doing it. In _killing_ him.  
That was one thing that he could never shake off. The one thing he just couldn’t understand no matter how many times he stood here. The sickening thought of how purely obsessed they had to be with his death to keep fighting here, over and over again at the cost of everyone he cared about.  
Before even realizing he’d fallen, he found himself kneeling on the ground. His magic disappeared, freeing his hands and leaving them numb. He instantly willed it to return.  
But he didn’t have any will left.  
“Look….k-kid?”  
He heard the familiar plink of the FIGHT button, followed by the tapping of footsteps against the tile floor. His mind shouted at him to get up, to keep going just a little bit longer. Wasn’t that what Papyrus had done? His brother hadn’t given up, not even when it was clear he was going to die, so what gave him the right too?  
Man his brother was…had been so cool.  
“Kid I…I know I kinda tricked you with that MERCY thing earlier. And hey I’m…s-sorry…about all that.”  
No! What was he saying!? He didn’t owe this human any apologies! They’d killed Papyrus! And Undyne! And the nice lady who lived behind the door in the forest. And who knew who else!? The only thing this kid deserved was death!  
But death meant nothing to them.  
“And….you know…I wanna be straight with you for a sec, okay?”  
His voice was dry and tinged in desperation, like one of the lesser dogs begging for someone to pet him. He clenched his teeth, trying with all his might to stop the words that were coming through them.  
“I don’t know the reason you keep doing all this.” He continued in spite of his efforts. “Maybe you don’t have one….m-maybe you really are just a freak…I wouldn’t know……but…you’ve done this all before, right? You’ve killed everyone….sooo many times….e-even….even me! There’s nothing left to gain from….all this, right? S-so…”  
The footsteps didn’t stop. He felt the bones in his spine quiver with every step and he hated it. Shouldn’t he be used to this by now? Why was he even trying? _What_ was he even trying to say?  
They stood before him, staring down with its empty expression that somehow expressed more satisfaction then if they’d been smiling. Their fingers flexed around the blade in their hand and he couldn’t take his eye sockets off of it, no matter how hard he tried. It would hurt. It hurt every time.  
“Please…….Please stop! Please just leave us alone! Just leave…me alone!”  
He knew how selfish he was being before the words even left his mouth. It didn’t matter whether that he’d lost or that he’d always lose! He had to get up! He had…he had to stop crying.  
“P-please….could you just…. cut me some slack? Heh heh…..”  
The human’s hand seemed to loosen around the blade, if only a little.  
“Yeah….that’s a good one….I…I’m not even asking you to fix it anymore…..I just…..I……..just…..”  
He just wanted to move on. He wanted to grieve for longer than ten minutes before having to do it all over again. He wanted to not keep all this misery and worthlessness locked up inside his soul, waiting for the run he’d permanently fall apart.  
They were greedy things to want, but he couldn’t do this anymore. He couldn’t pretend he was some all mighty bringer of judgement just because he remembered what only a handful could.  
“P-please kid.”  
The knife was almost there. Their grip was so loose it could fall at any moment.  
If only it would.  
If only it could.  
Their grip suddenly tightened once again and their eyes, so calm and empty, sparkled like a pair of rubies.  
He felt his soul snap in two, before they’d even raised their hand.  
It was a beautiful day outside.  
It always was….it always would be.  
Birds were singing, flowers were blooming.  
On day like this, kids like them  
**s h o u l d  b e  b u r n I n g  i n  h e l l  
** ……  
but they never would.  
Without thinking he covered his head with his arms, trying feebly to fend off the blow that was coming. His body shook like a leaf as his tears fell freely into a glistening pool of sapphire magic.  
That was it. There was no hope.  
He’d just have to keep coming back.  
Forever.  
“Please! Please! Please!” He cried, growing hoarser with every plea. “Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please!”  
Who was he calling too? There was no one left! In a few seconds, he wouldn’t even be here!  
“Please……please…….please….” His voice fell into a whisper as he let out a sob.  
“Please……”  
“Poor Sans.”  
“Oh my gosh that fight took forever.”  
“Man, that’s awful!”  
“No! Don’t do it Chara! Nooooo!”  
The sound of voices, voices he’d never heard before in his life, breezed through his skull.  
“Oh this is awful!”  
“All right! Woo! Did it!”  
“Why the heck did I do this run!? What is wrong with me!?”  
Slowly he lowered his hands, covering the holes where his ears would have been as he tried to understand what he was hearing. What were these? Had he finally lost his mind? He didn’t even notice as the world around him; the hall, the floor, even the human, faded away. He felt lighter somehow, floating in an empty black abyss of nothingness.  
Nothing but the voices, that is.  
“Hey, what do you think would happen if Papyrus was here instead of Sans? You think he’d still try to show mercy?”  
“What about Asgore? Isn’t he in the other room? Why doesn’t Sans just go get him?”  
“Oh! Here’s a thought! What if after Chara left, Sans survived? Then he could  
follow them and figure out what’s going on!”  
“Maybe Sans could figure out how to hold onto everyone’s souls! That’d be cool! He could bring them back!”  
With every word and every thought, a pinprick of light appeared to cut through the darkness.  
Were those stars? Real stars?  
They multiplied faster than he could keep track of. Hundreds of them in thousands of different colors all filling the dark void the same way they flooded his mind.  
“I got an idea! Let’s trade their personalities around! You know, like Sans with Papyrus! And Grillby with Muffet!”  
“Let’s make all the bad guy good and all the good guys bad!”  
“How about we put the whole story in Outer space!”  
“Let’s make them like Greek gods!”  
“Or gangsters. That would be cool! Seeing them all in a gang on the surface…”  
His skull pulsed and pounded and he gripped it tightly with his hands. It didn’t hurt, but it was just so much! So many voices running through him as if they were his blood. It was so much to think about that he barely noticed his magical eye flickering out of control. One second it was blue, the next it was bright green. Then it was yellow and shaped like a star, divided between purple and red, lighting up like a flame.  
“”Dancetale!’  
“Storyshift!”  
“Underkeep!”  
“Flowertale!”  
“Monofell!”  
It was too much! He knew it was! Already he could feel his soul straining under the weight of all these ideas. He was going to die, wasn’t he? He was going to die just like before!  
But…he didn’t mind.  
He wasn’t afraid.  
He felt his vision slip away as he faded into unconsciousness, the voices fading into happy murmurs.  
And he couldn’t help smiling at their happiness.  
****************************************************************************************************  
  
“Uuhhhh…..what…..”  
The skeleton slowly opened his eyes, not really wanting to wake up yet. Funny, he couldn’t remember falling asleep. Actually, he couldn’t remember ever being awake until now…but he’d felt so nice and warm and comfortable. He wouldn’t have minded just lying like that forever had curiosity not overtaken him.  
The sky above him, if it was even a sky at all, was white. Perfectly pure white that seemed to go on forever yet stop just above his face. An odd illusion, but one he had to test.  
He adjusted his arms behind him and carefully pushed himself upright, expecting his head to hit the ceiling at any moment.  
It didn’t.  
“Where….am I?”  
It wasn’t just the sky that looked empty, he quickly realized. Everything in every direction was the exact same shade of white. Even the ground he sat upon seemed to go down for miles past where his feet rested. He couldn’t help scooting back, even though every inch of the Anti-Void looked the same.  
The Anti-Void.  
That was where he was, though knowing the title didn’t make anything clearer.  
“Hm…” He pondered, tugging the edge of his scarf out from under him. “Well, how did I get here?”  
It occurred to him that in order to ‘get here’, he had to have been somewhere else first.  
And for the life of him he couldn’t think of anything!  
“Come on! You have to remember something! Just think!”  
He hunched forward and rested him head in his hands as he pressed himself to remember something. He scowled and scrunched up his face with the effort. All his thoughts felt like a swarm of butterflies drifting around his skull, each one unique and important but so carefree in their existence that they mocked the idea of being caught. He tried again and again to grab one, wishing he had some sort of mind-net. Again and again they fluttered out of his reach, spiting him with their utter lack of interest in his plight.  
Finally, just as he neared the point of giving up, something finally happened.  
One of the butterflies landed directly on his nose.  
“Papyrus!” He clapped his hands with delight. “Oh how could I have forgotten Papyrus?! He’s so cool!”  
That one butterfly lead the others straight too him, as if he’d become a flower, and before he knew it all his other thoughts fell into place. There was Undyne, she was the Captain of the Royal Guard and made everything awesome just by shouting at it, and Alphys, who was super smart and shy and didn’t think people liked her because of her mistake. Oh if only she’d tell! Then she wouldn’t have to be afraid anymore! Then was Toriel, who always so kind and caring towards everyone, and Asgore, who lived to serve his people with his oversized heart, and Grillby, who might be quiet but always had a way of making you feel better. There was Muffet and The Dogs and The Nice Cream Rabbit and Mettaton and Sans and……  
He wrinkled his face at that last name.  
Sans.  
He could remember Sans as clearly as everyone else. He was a joker, a lazy bones and a great friend, but he was also depressed and lonely, having to carry a burden that would have been unthinkable anyone around him.  
Something about that skeleton seemed to feel closer than anyone else.  
Maybe it was because he was a skeleton and because they looked so similar in his mind’s eye.  
But why? He couldn’t say for certain but he got the feeling they were very alike, even if he knew they weren’t the same person.  
_Ink Sans  
_ The name leaped into his head. He hadn’t noticed it before. He couldn’t even remember who he’d given it to him, but it was still firmly fixed in place as his own.  
“Ink….Ink….” He tested the name a few times, looking down himself over to see whether it fit. His eyes sockets ran over his belt of brushes and rainbow colored paint bottles. His fingers fiddled with his pale blue hoodie that was wrapped around his middle. His feet pointed and straighten, wiggling his brown sneakers.  
A grin lit up his face.  
“I love it!” He beamed, leaping to his feet. “It’s perfect! It’s awesome! It’s me! I’m Ink! Ink!Sans! I…I think I’m gunna…gunna-”  
He bent over as a flood of black paint errupted from his mouth, landing in an impossibly round puddle.  
“Ulgh!” He wiped the remaining paint from his teeth with a gag. “I gotta avoid doing that!”  
At least the vomiting episode led to another discovery. As he straightened up, Ink felt weight he hadn’t noticed before shift about on his back. His hand quickly located the cause; a very thick wooden stick that was tucked snuggly away in a leather carrier. However, as he pulled it out, he realized it was not a stick after all. His hands now held a massive paintbrush. Its wood was firm and smooth without so much a splinter with a pair of silver bands on either end. Ink’s eyes widened as he ran his fingers through the bristles. They were so soft he almost wanted to use them as a pillow! His grin stretched out even wider.  
“Waaaaoooooow.” He murmured, marveling at his brush like a child. His arms tightened around the brush in an odd sort of embrace. He never wanted to lose it. He never wanted to let it go.  
And that’s when it hit him.  
The ideas.  
He could barely remember the darkness, but he could see every thought that shone through the night as clearly as if he was still there.  
Ink felt his bones tingle with anticipation. There were millions upon millions of worlds in those stars. Worlds that were similar to the one he’d seen long ago, but each still different in their own way. Each one building off of each other to create a bright endless galaxy.  
He held his brush at the ready, feeling the memory of those worlds gushing inside him. They were all right there, just waiting to be brought to life. Just waiting for him.  
And he wouldn’t make them wait any longer.  
His sneakers padded against the white floor as he ran, his scarf trailing behind him like a sheet of parchment. A trail of rainbow colors flew from the brush’s tip as it cut through the Anti-Void. He made it seem effortless, yet his hands moved as skillfully as any great artist. With splatters and splashes, swirls and spirals, squiggles and spots and thousands of other designs, he began shaping the paint to fit its purpose. Towering trees rose from the ground that snuggled into sparkling snowdrifts, cascading waterfalls nestled in between crystal caverns and whispered secrets that had only just been told, oceans of lava and obsidian stone twisted with monuments of cold steel that pulsed with life and energy. There were the ruins of happier times and the monochrome castles of even happier ones to come. There were villages of nonsense and doors that lead to mysteries no man or monster could even begin to understand.  
All felt familiar, all felt strange, all felt different and wonderful.  
He painted one ceiling a brilliant blue sky, another a blood splattered sunset, another still faded grey and seeped with toxic green.  
Then came the friends he brought to life. He could hear their souls, each one beating to a rhythm that was spread across a thousand timelines and a thousand monsters that each could have been its twins. He heard their voices. Sometimes they were fighting, sometimes they were laughing. It didn’t matter to him. They would all be his friends soon enough!  
The warmth and happiness that he felt tripled as he watched the worlds fly into existence. It was greatest moment of his life. All he wanted was to go on painting like this forever.  
Then he tripped.  
“Whoa!” His foot entangled with his scarf and tumbled into his own artwork. “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!”  
“Ooof!”  
Ink landed in a soft heap.  
“Ha! Ha! Ha!...Oh…this is fun!” He lay there laughing until his ribs were sore and sparkling rainbow tears slipped from his eye sockets.  
Then he heard the creak of a door open.  
“Hey! My fortress!”  
Ink lifted his head. Only now did he realize what his broken his fall. Beneath him was a massive pile of blankets and pillows. It was the centerpiece of a small room with walls that were lined with childish drawings and a floor that was littered with smiling toys. As he looked about the room his eyes fell on the source of the voice. A small disgruntled little monster with her arms crossed and a scowl that far too nasty for her sweet little face. The sleeves of her hoodie draped over her hands and a black eyepatch hung from her face at a lopsided angle.  
Ink’s eyes lit up into a pair of magenta hearts as he fought himself to keep from squealing.  
“Sorry Undyne!” His smile made it difficult to look apologetic, but he tried the best he could. It was incredible! He’d seen this world in his head and now, with nothing but a few placed strokes, it was really real!  
And it was soooooooo cute!  
“You don’t look sorry!” The little Undyne continued, scowling even harder. “You broke my fortress! How am I gunna play Fortress without a fortress!” Her keen eye peered intensely as Ink climbed to his feet. “You….look familiar.”  
“Huh? Oh yeah! That’s ‘cause I’m Sans!” Ink promptly explained.  
“Ha! I caught you in a lie! You’re not Sans! Sans is my friend and he’s much smaller then you! And even he doesn’t wear clothes that funny!” Undyne raced to the other end of the room and dug through her toy box for a wooden spear. She raised it into the air, a gleam of excitement in her  eye. “Prepare to face my wrath, you imposter! RAAAAAAARRRRHHHHHH”  
Undyne rammed her spear into Ink’s leg.  
  
**-0.000005 HP**  
  
It was only through sheer will power the Ink kept from laughing.  
“Ah-ha! Surrender you vile villain! You are no match for me!”  
She  began eagerly dodging left and right, avoiding attacks that didn’t exist, and poking Ink’s legs with her spear.  
“Ah! Oh no!” Ink coughed dramatically as he fell to his knees. “I am no match for Undyne and her terrifying Spear of Justice! Ugh! Agh! Ooogh! Bleh!”  
Ink once again fell face first into the heap of pillows.  
“Oh! Um…” Undyne frowned and bent over. “Are you okay, Mr. Sans Imposter? Gerson would be really mad if I killed you.”  
“Oh I’m good! No worries!” Ink grinned, his voice muffled until he adjusted his head onto his arms. “I really am Sans though. Just…a different one! You can call me Ink. Sorry about wrecking your fortress though. How about I help you build another one?”  
Undyne tilted her head as she considered the offer, lifting up her eye patch and scanning him over carefully with both her eyes.  
“Hm….I don’t know about this “Another Sans” poop, but you do seem very trustable.” Undyne’s expression suddenly brightened and she flipper her eye patch back down. “Okay! Until Papyrus gets here, you can be my Second in Command; Lieutenant General Inky! Now build! Build I say!”  
“Yes sir! Commander Ma’am, sir!” Ink gave her a hearty salute and they set to work, stretching blankets of rows of chairs and tying them down with string. They fluffed pillows to serve as a barricade from enemy. They hung paper planes from the ceiling with glitter balloon bomb to drop on oncoming invaders. They inspected an army of stuffed soldiers who were all dreadfully undertrained and whipped them back into shape using the most vicious methods of tickling known to monsterkind.  
Only then did the two step back to view their glorious work in full.  
“It’s perfect!”  Undyne squealed. “I can’t wait until Papyrus sees it! I bet Sans will love it too! My Sans of course, not you!”  
“You did a super job!” Ink agreed wholeheartedly. However, even as he ruffled Undyne’s hair, he felt an itch in the back of his skull. This time he recognized the tickling of its wings against his mind. It was another idea. Another world begging him to put it into motion.  
As much as he wanted to stay and play a bit longer, he couldn’t say no to another world. It had been waiting patiently after all.  
“I can’t wait for the other guys to meet you! Sans is gunna freeeeeeeak out and it’ll be soooooo funny!”  
Ink smiled softly as he bent down to her level.  
“Sorry Undyne, but I have to go now.”  
Undyne was horrified.  
“Whaaaat!? You can’t go yet! It’s only….umm….thirty-nine ‘o’ clock!”  
“Um….I’m pretty sure it’s about two-thirty.” Ink chuckled, glancing at nearby clock to prove his suspicions. “But don’t worry, I’ll come back again later!”  
“You promise?” She questioned, raising her pinkie. “Pinkie promise?”  
Ink solemnly wrapped his boney finger around her scaly one.  
“Promise!”  
“Undyne! Your friends are here!”  
A creaky old voice beckoned Undyne. She waved quick a good bye to her new friend before dashing out into the foyer.  
“Hey guys! You won’t believe what just happened! I met another you! There was another Sans! And he was all grown-up and dressed funny and…Hey!…why are you laughing? You calling me a liar!?”  
“Heh heh….so cute!” Ink chuckled as he raised his brush. A few white droplets fell to the floor in a smooth puddle, leading back to the Anti-Void. “I wonder who I’ll be meeting next?”  
The question put a thrill in his chest and he dove into the puddle.  
There was still so much to be done!  
And he couldn’t wait to get to work!  
  
****************************************************************************************************  
  
It was nice in here.  
It was empty and endless, just like the world outside, but it felt far more comfortable. The darkness pressed in like a soft blanket and muffled his existence in a calming way unlike the Anti-Void that left the feeling of loneliness and insignificance. It was like getting out of a snowstorm inside the most comfortable cave ever made.  
Dwelling in absolute nothingness was really underrated.  
The skeleton rolled over and adjusted the arm he used as a pillow. His eyes were closed, his legs pulled up and his mind as silent as static. He couldn’t say how long he’d been here. Time didn’t have much of a purpose anymore and even if it did, he wouldn’t want to keep track. It was just so nice getting to rest. If only he could just lay here forever. If he could fall asleep here in the dark and never wake up again.  
That…that would be really nice. Maybe he should do that….  
Then he heard something.  
His face scrunched up as he balled himself up tighter. His mind was making up sounds again. And after he’d already told himself so many times!  
“There’s n-n-nOThinG hERe.” He muttered. “G-g-Go bAcK to slEE-ee-Eep.”  
He pretended to take a deep breath. There was no air here and he didn’t have lungs, but it made him feel better. At least better than it would trying to convince himself there was something else out there. Someone…anyone…..  
There wasn’t though.  
He needed to stop imagining there was.  
Slowly he calmed himself down until he was on the brink of sleep once more.  
Then he heard something.  
“RrRrrrrRRRrrrrrrrRrRR….S-S-stoppp iT.” He closed his eyes tighter and clenched his teeth. “ssSSs-ttt-tOoOp iiiT!”  
It didn’t stop. The sounds grew louder and louder until they rattled inside his head like angry bees.  
“it’S nOoooOt ReAl. IT’ssss not REaal iTtttt’s NoT REAL!” He hissed, almost in a warning.  
The sounds escalated, echoing over and over again through the dark space. It was impossible to ignore them. The laughing, the complaining, the questions, the answers, the whispers, the shouts…  
He could hear the voices again.  
A red eye glowed in the darkness, reflecting off a pair of lopsided glasses. He dragged himself to his feet, tearing the glasses from his face and tucking them into his pocket. His bones were sore, begging him to lie back down.  
Even as the voices begged him to get up.  
“yooUUrrrr N-n-nOt ReAl!” He shouted again. “AnnnAnAnd I’mmM NoT R-r-rEal E-either! SooooO S-s-S-top iiiiiiiiit!”  
Their voices were as clear as they were standing right beside him.  
“Is that Sans?”  
“He’s so cool!”  
“Oh my gosh! Best Sans ever!”  
“I just love this Sans!”  
 “IIIII Am-Am-Am NoOT SaAANS!” His own voice managed to silence the other ones. Thank goodness too.  
“Stu-u-upid VOiCes.” He scowled “I…….I-I-I’mmm NoT SAnS.”  
At least….not the real one.  
His memory was fractured at best and gone at worse, but that much he knew for sure.  
He stood there in the dark, drinking in the return of silence as if it were water. Maybe he could go back to sleep now…  
The voices instantly returned, this time in whispers.  
“So…what’s his name then?”  
It’s Error. Error!Sans.  
“Oh that’s perfect! Error it is!”  
“I love him! Can draw a picture of him?”  
He growled through his gritted teeth. How could they talk about liking him? He was a mistake! He wasn’t real! He shouldn’t even be here!  
“I wonder why he’s always crying? Or is that like a tattoo or something?”  
“What about those strings he’s got on his hands?”  
“Awwww! And those cute little glasses! I wish he’d wear them more!”  
“Yeah! He’s soooo cute!”  
“I just wanna hug him! Poor little Error!”  
“He’s totally my favorite Sans! Error is the bezt-“  
“S-S-S-S-S-SH-SHUT UP!”  
With a broken roar, he struck blindly out into the shadows. His boney fingers tore through the darkness at what he knew to be nothing.  
But for one, it wasn’t.  
He let out a shout of alarm as a scarlet colored blotch appeared like a bloody scar. His bones rattling with terror, he fell backwards and frantically scooted himself away from it.  
”Wh-wh-wHat iS tHaT!?” He gulped. The tear was growing, cutting away more and more of the shadows in exchange for a scarlet sky painted with black clouds. It was like a window and as it opened he could see what was inside it. A gentle flurry of grey snow, the stretching arms of ashen trees, a well-trodden path beside a tidy little stand built entirely from wood. He heard a pair of voices. They were different than the ones that spoke to him and yet…they sounded so familiar. He could see the silhouettes of their owners, one angrily pointing down at the other and….  
No….No that wasn’t……it couldn’t be….  
With shaking hands he reached for his glasses and slipped them back on. He had to be seeing this wrong, he knew he had to but he couldn’t stop himself from moving closer. Whoever they were, they couldn’t be…  
But they were.  
“Get up you lazy slob! You’re supposed to be on duty!” A tall angry skeleton lashed out with a flick of his black cape.  
“Shesh. Sorry to upset ya boss.” The smaller one replied with a sarcastic shrug, a sheepish grin showing off his spiked teeth. “I wasn’t sleeping, if that’s what you were thinking. I was testing out a way to catch humans.”  
“And what exactly would that be?!” The tall one scowled, tapping his foot impatiently in the snow.  
“It’s easy! First ya _pretend_   to be asleep, then ya jump up and catch them! It’s the perfect plan and obviously my practice is paying off. I can’t believe you thought I was-“  
“Enough! I have had just about enough of your excuses! If you weren’t my brother I’d have had fired you already, you imbecile!”  
“Hey! Who you callin’ an imbecile, ya bonehead!?  
The two carried on, their fight growing fiercer with each passing moment.  
However, he could do nothing but stare in horror.  
“Th-tHat’s…n-n-not right…” He stuttered. ”It-it-it caN’t bE….It’S AlL WrOng!”  
He tried to send it away, waving his hand as if it were contaminated. In a flurry of pixels and black bold ERRORs the scene dissolved.  
Only for another one to appear.  
This time the trees were twisted with multicolored stripes and snow fell lighter and fluffier, almost like powdered sugar. Frisk skipped down the path followed by a pair of skeletons whose skulls were laced with sugar and dripping with frosting. The trio munched on sticks of nice cream and laughed as Sans told a joke about-  
“nO! Th-That’s N-n-NoT sAnS! tHaT’SSSS nOT FrISk! It Ca-ca-CAn’T b-B-BE!”  
Grasping his head with his free hand as if to keep his mind from slipping, he continued desperately swiping at the tear. “pPpPlEEE-Ease! J-J-just StOP!”  
His attempts only made the matter worse as the tear continued to widen, now showing more worlds at once and none of them made any sense.  
Mettaton king of the Underground while Asgore was still alive?  
Life changing fights decided by dance-offs?  
Monster children climbing up into the surface world?  
It was wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!  
And he couldn’t take it! He just couldn’t!  
Those abominations weren’t supposed to exist! If they did it’d mean…it’d mean…  
“gO AAAAw-a-a-y!” He bawled falling to his knees and shielding his eyes to keep from seeing any more. “jUSSSS-tt DiE YoU….yOu-filthy glitches! dIe! DIe! dIe!”  
Something snapped.  
He could feel it deep within the shriveled lump inside his chest that might have once been a soul. It was crooked and bent beyond repair, held together with hundreds of blue strings that lumped it into a mess. Fragile it was, but it was still there.  
He felt something break. A realization that finally shocked his soul so badly that it lost something important…but it was something he didn’t want anymore.  
And without it, everything suddenly fell into place.  
A smile slowly crawled across his face, daring him to accept this tantalizing new idea.  
“iS-s-s….ThIS WhAt Yo-O-Ou wANteD mE To sEe?” He asked, nearly giggling with delight. “AlL Th-TH-these dISguStInG TH-Th-hINgS?”  
He shivered, knocking his glasses onto the ground but he didn’t care. Those weren’t right either. Sans didn’t wear glasses.  
But here he’d been lying around trying to be a lazybones again, hating himself for existing when he wasn’t even the beginning of these mistakes. There was so much worse out there. So many more abominations that mocked the little he held dear. He just couldn’t allow such revolting things to exist.  
The static that had engulfed his brain switched into shrieking squeals and crackles like those on a broken radio. It didn’t make sense, it didn’t have to. All he knew was that he wanted those worlds gone. They had to pay for their unnatural crimes against reality and that it would be his greatest pleasure to play judge.  
That was something he knew Sans did.  
And this time, it would be **FUN!**  
**ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!  
** Bold black words filled his vision, turning it even darker then the shadows around him.  
“I cA-A-an pREteEnd.” He whispered. “I cA-A-an pREAtenD tO bE SanS….foR n-o-oW. WhAt Did yOu Ca-a-All mE? ErRor?...... Sa-A-anS?”  
He laughed aloud.  
“then THaT’S what I’L-L-l bE FoR nOw!”  
For the first time in history,  
he couldn’t wait to get to work.  
  
The End....of Chapter One


	2. Unknown Error

“And this the greatest room in the entire house! The room of the Sensational Sans!”  
The stubby little skeleton threw the door open with a flourish, inviting his new friend inside. The walls were a cool blue, the same kind as the bandana that wrapped around the skeleton’s neck, and as they entered they saw even more evidence pointing towards its owner. A table neatly lined with action figures, a bed shape into a sailboat with a whtite sail hanging against the wall and an organized bookshelf filled with everything from “Rules and Regulations of the Royal Guard” to “Advanced Puzzle Construction for Critical Minds” and most concerning of all, “How to Capture a Human”.  
At least, it would have been concerning had Chara not already met the books owner.  
They turned their gaze back towards their new friend who was eagerly showing off everything they’d taken in at a glance, now with vivid detail. He seemed to have a thousand stories behind every item and had more than enough energy to tell them all.  
“And this is a figure I got from Bob! He’s a Flowey, but he’s not because he’s a Bob and he found this in the garbage dump because I guess he likes digging through garbage. Of course, it took a while to get it from him but the Sensational Sans never gives up! He put up a valiant fight, but he at last relented when I offered to eat all the Flowey Flakes the other Flowey’s were giving him. I can’t actually remember eating them….but I’m sure they were delicious and now I got this figure! Which reminds me of this cool Mettaton NEO figure I have…”  
As he continued to prattle on, Chara plopped themself down on the bed as carefully as they could. It had been made so neatly and they couldn’t bear to disturb its sapphire quilt.  
What had Asgore been so worried about? They’d only been here an hour and already they’d been able to pet a bunch of puppies and make a super new friend! True he’d wanted to catch them for a while, but that was just because he’d been lonely!  
Their smile brightened. Now that they were here, he didn’t have to be lonely anymore and neither did they. Hooray!  
“…and that’s all my stuff!”  
He declared and spun around to face them. Amazing! They’d only been in here a few moments and already he’d described everything he owned. Did this guy run in a different time zone?  
Not sure how to respond, Chara gave him a small round of applause. This seemed to be what he wanted as he briskly bowed as low as his stubby body would allow.  
“Thank you! Thank you!” He beamed. “But please, there’s no need for your applause! The Sensational Sans already knew you’d love it! After all, with your exquisite taste in hot dogs and puzzles, it was clear this would be the perfect place for our date!”  
With a hop, skip and a spin, he landed on the bed beside them.  
Somehow, the blankets didn’t wrinkle at all.  
“Now then human!” The skeleton bounced with excitement. “Um….well….if you’re all done seeing everything. Are you ready to start our date?”  
His eye sockets twinkled with a pair of stars and his gloved fists were clenched together.  
How could anyone possibly say no?  
Chara nodded.  
“Hooray!” He leaped from the bed and jumped up and down upon the carpet, flinging his arms in the air. It was so silly that Chara couldn’t help laughing. Did he ever run out of energy?  
“Well then! DATING STAR-“  
Grrrraaaoowwwllll.  
He froze mid jump. Chara’s rosy cheeks became even pinker then normal as they rubbed their aching stomach. It _had_ been a while since they’d eaten last and that had only been half a bisicle. Casting a shy smile up at their friend, they quickly began digging through their inventory. No good. They’d used up everything fighting and had been in such a rush to go on this date that replenishing items had completely slipped their mind.  
Well they’d just have to live with it. There was no way they were going to abandon their friend just because they were hungry. Besides, they could just run into the Inn later. The innkeeper always gave a free meal to visitors who wanted to stay and as long as they didn’t stay the whole night-  
 “Oh no!” Their friend shrieked, wringing his scarf with concern. “I forgot to bring refreshments! I’m such a terrible host! Well, never fear! The Sensational Sans will just have to get you some!”  
He scratched his head for a moment, muttering to himself.  
“Hm….Well, you can’t have any hot dogs. That would ruin my present! Ah! And I haven’t gone grocery shopping yet! What to do…what to do….Oh! I know! I’ll go get us some Nicecream!”  
Chara shook their head and held out their hands in refusal. They didn’t want to impose! Not after how kind he’d been to them! However their reaction went unnoticed and the skeleton raced out the door without another word. Before they could follow, a snowball whisked through the open window. Chara leaned out to see him already outside, waving and shouting to them.  
“Just wait there human! I’ll be so quick you won’t have time to miss me!”  
And with that he took off, a blue blur whizzing across the snow.  
Chara blinked and scratched their head. Did he have energy drinks instead of water? Did he bath in sugared coffee? Was he part humming bird?  
The sheer absurdity of it all caused them to grin….then to giggle….then to break into full on peals of laughter. All the tension they’d barreled up inside broke free as tears of relief ran down their face. Ever since they’d fallen down here, Chara hadn’t been able to feel safe. Even when they were with Asgore, who’d been like a dad to them, they’d been peaking around every corner and watching every step for the other monsters. They had been so sure that they someone would get hurt; that Temmie was right and it really was kill or be killed. But now? Now they had a friend, a real friend who wouldn’t turn his back on them and who they wouldn’t turn their back on either. The joy of it was almost too much. They laughed and laughed, grinning from ear to ear as their dirty hair fell into their face. It seemed like a long time before they could contain themselves and even then they still couldn’t hold back a few extra giggles of delight.  
It was only then they realized…  
They weren’t the only one laughing.  
Chara froze and clamped their mouth shut.  
They could hear him clearly now. It was a dark voice that sounded like it came from a broken record, chuckling to himself from across the room.  
“hEh….AlREadY fEElIng bETtEr? ThA-a-At’S ImPREsI-i-ivE fOr sOMeOnE wHo’s comMITted MuR-ur-uRder.”  
A chill raised down Chara’s spine. How?  
“YoU THiNk yOU’re sO CLEveR, DoN’t yoU? DELetinG YoUr SA-A-AVE fILeS oUTsIde ThE GAMe So nOTHinG cAn ReMEmBeR YoUr LIttLe ‘ACCidenT” wITh…. _AsgOre?_ “  
The voice spat out the name as if it were an insult. A flash of anger surged through Chara, igniting fear and guilt that had long since been forgotten. They…they hadn’t meant too! It was an accident! It was! They hadn’t known there was another way! He couldn’t judge them like that! Chara’s hand flew to the toy knife they’d hidden in their pocket. They pulled it into the light and turned to face whoever was heartless enough to mock them.  
Or at least, they tried.  
Before they could even take a step, they body froze. Chara’s breath caught in their throat as they found themself unable to move. Every vein and mussel had grown numb and senseless. Their eyes widened as they frantically tried to move their arm, but it was as if it wasn’t even attached to them. It was just there, shivering slightly and clutching the little toy knife with its dull plastic blade as pathetic as ever. They tried again and again too move their arm, their legs, their head anything! But their body refused.  
“nO-ow wHaT dId YOu bRinG tHAt UgLy thINg oUt foR-R-r? cOmE oN Now _mY cHIld…_ ” Came the voice from behind them, its tone giving away his sick grin. “PuT iT Away.”  
Chara felt their chest sting with pain as something wrapped tighter against their soul, something they hadn’t felt before. Their arm tightened and slowly lowered their weapon. They let out a gasp as they struggled against their own body, but the arm barely responded. In a few moments their hand slipped the toy knife back into their pocket and fell limply at their side.  
“HahAhAHA...” The voice laughed. “tO THInK I-I-I spent aLl this tIMe nOt kNoWINg I c-O-O-oulD dO ThIS! i’Ve bEen sUCh a WAS-as—As-Te!”  
Chara tried to scream but only managed a small squeak before their throat was crushed by some unseen force. Tiny teardrops trickled from the edges of their crimson eyes. They couldn’t do anything…they couldn’t do **anything!**  
“aWwWwW! ComE On _cHAra-a-a._ ” The voice chuckled as it became softer. There came the sound of padded footsteps moving crossing the floor. Chara felt their skin crawl as they sensed the figure staring at their helpless figure, just inches away.  
“dOn’t bE So ScAREd. i-I-I’m nOt gUnNa KILL yOU.” He continued with mock sympathy.  
“No……thEN yOu Co-o-oUld jUSt RESET. thAT’s WhY I’m J-U-Ust going to kEeP yoU sOMewHERE yOU’ll PErrrrrfeCtlY sAfE. Heh Heh hEh!”  
Chara felt her body tighten.  
“sO-o hOld sTIllllll-“  
The door suddenly banged open and through it skidded a little blue skeleton, his arms loaded with frozen treats.  
“HUMAN! THE SANSATIONAL SANS HAS RETURNED WITH NICE CREAM FOR MY FRIE-”  
His jaw dropped and so did the Nice cream.  
“What is going on!?”  
The human, his new friend, was crying in terror! Their entire body was wrapped in long blue strings that were tied so tightly that he could see faint red marks from where the strings cut into their pale skin. His eyes instantly found the strings connected to black hand, tied neatly around the fingers as if it were a puppet controller. Its owner wore a black coat, zipped up tight with its hood pulled high over its head.  
He…he’d only been gone a minute, hadn’t he? When had this happened!?  
“Wh-who are you? What are you doing to the human?” He demanded.  
The black figure turned to face him. Its hood covered most of its face, only showing a row  
of impossibly dark teeth.  
“I D-D-Didn’T tHInK yOu’D bE BA-Ack so SoOn, SaAns AbOMInAtion #11.”  
The figure said with a grin, flexing the hand tied with strings. Chara’s body lifted off the floor and hung limply in the air.  
“ExpECIally SiNcE iT’s sO aROUnD SLIppEry hEre..…dId YO-o-u hAVe an _iCe trIP_?”  
While the little skeleton would normally have screamed at the terrible pun, his thoughts were currently occupied by the terrified little human. He glared at the figure with empty eye sockets as his hand began to glow dark blue.  
 “I warn you…” He threatened “I don’t wish to fight but if you hurt that human, I shall be forced to attack.”  
The figure snorted, his smile growing even wider.  
“HehEhEheh! oH DoN’T wORRy….” He turned his head back towards Chara, who could do nothing but look back with teary eyes.  
“iN a FeW sECOnds, THeY wON’T fEeL aNYthInG.”  
The figure clenched his fist.  
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”  
Chara screamed in pain as the strings tightened around them, slicing through her skin and forcing her bones to crack beneath the pressure. There came a loud bleeping as their health instantly fell to zero.  
“Human!” The little skeleton barely had the time to shout or even take in the squirts of red that appeared as the human’s body vanished.  
They were gone.  
The skeleton felt his hands quiver as he tried to take in what had happened, blinking over and over again as he stared down at the ground.  
This…n-no they couldn’t be….not their friend….no…  
“hEy? WhY sO gLuM, chUM? aLl I dId wAs GET rid Of ThE bOdy. They’Ve BRoKeN thA-at ThinG a ToN aLREady. sEe?”  
The little skeleton raised his head.  
In the figure’s outstretched hand hovered a small heart. It glowed with a faint red light that was nearly doused by the thick blue wrappings that encased it. It looked like a blue mummy.  
The skeleton recognized it at once. The human’s soul!  
Could they really be okay?  
A grim look crossed the skeleton’s face. He raised his glowing hand and the figure became enveloped in the same blue light. If he tried to run away, he wouldn’t get far.  
“I’m sorry I have to do this.”  He tried his best to keep his voice steady. He’d almost forgotten that Queen Toriel still needed one more human soul if she was to break the barrier and get them all back to the surface. Of course someone had found them. He just hadn’t wanted it to be so soon.  
“Sir.” He began again, already feeling calmer now that they had an idea of what had happened. “I’m sorry, but I have already captured this human myself. So…you don’t need to be here. Just…let them go and I will personally take them to the Queen myself aaaand then you can go have a lovely afternoon taking in the sights of Snowdin, since you’ve already come so far out of your way. In fact,  I’m sure my brother could get you something at Muffet’s if you wanted! You know, just to say thank you for all the hard work you’ve put in! All right?”  
The figure didn’t respond. The little skeleton couldn’t help fidgeting.  
“Sir...you need to hand over the human soul and leave my house now or…or I’ll have to call Captain Alphys and-“  
The figure let out a giggle, his teeth glistening like black pearls. Instinctively, the little skeleton stepped back as his hand glowed brighter. What was it about this guy that so…unnerved him? He was just a monster; a monster who wouldn’t be able to get away as long as he was covered by his blue magic. So what was it about this monster that felt so wrong? So…..familiar?  
“wOw-Ow-oW! yOu REaLlY aRE aDORaBle, ARen’T yOU? I cAN sEe-Ee-Ee-EE wHy thE vOIceS lI-ike YoU So mUCh.”  
“V-voices?” The little skeleton’s face scrunched up. “I don’t understand. What voic-AAACKK!”  
He gagged as something pulled upon his soul, dragging it out from his rib cage and leaving floating inches in front of him. It was covered in tight blue strings, just as the human’s soul had been, and before he could react there were more. Dozens of strings wrapping around his legs, weaving through his eye sockets and latching around anything they could get a hold of. They even threaded through his teeth like dental floss, forcing his mouth shut even as he tried to attack. Worse still, he felt his hand moving without his permission.  
“Agh! Hand, stop it! I command you to stop moving this instant!” He mentally shouted, but to no avail. His fingers fell limp and their magic disappeared along with it. Then in one swift movement, all the strings pulled down on him. With a stifled yelp, his entire body was pinned to the floor. He struggled as hard as he could, but then came another tighter squeeze upon his soul and the sheer pain forced him to lay silent.  
“hEhEhehEhE! YoU’rE nOT vERy smart, ArE yOU?”  
The skeleton’s head was forced up to meet the gaze of the towering figure, the lights in its eyes a spiral of primary colors.  
And even with his head spinning from the pain, the skeleton managed to make out the figure’s face. He did recognize this person….but he certainly didn’t believe it.  
It was impossible.  
“wELl thAT’S fiIiiiiine.” The figure continued. “yOU’re noT GOinG To hAVe tO THiNk fOr tHIs nE-E-xt pArt.”  
“….REaDy tO hAVe soMe fuN?”

  
*************************************************************************************************************  
  
“Whoa-whoa-whoa-WHAAAAG!”  
Ink fell face first into a net of spider webbing.  
”Ha! Beat you again, Skeleman.”  
Pushing himself up as much as the sticky strings would allow, Ink looked up at the proud victor of their little dance-off. The elegant young lady gave her little black bob a flick as she smirked down at him. All six of her arms were crossed and her foot tapped absentmindedly on the stone ground as if still wanting to dance.  
“Yeah-ulgh!-yeah. I know.-pleh!” Ink mumbled as he began the tedious process of pulling the webbing from his bones. It was much preferred to the mile long plummet into the ocean of scalding lava that flowed beneath Muffet’s lair, but couldn’t she use the non-sticky webs!? Then again…..he supposed he must look pretty funny right now.  
“Only if by better you mean having two normal feet instead of two left ones.” She held a hand out to him, which he gratefully took as he pulled himself back onto the stone platform. “Truthfully though, I doubt you’d be able to stand up to a moldsmall.  
“Hey, not everyone can be as fast as you! I mean, your feet move faster than lightning!”  
“Hm! So they do…” If Muffet made any attempt to hide her arrogance, it failed miserably. “But your flattery won’t help you. Practice is over, now you have to pay up.”  
Ink stepped back as a small black spider descended from the ceiling, hanging from a thread just a few inches from his face. It’s face was too tiny to see, but its hairy legs held bow-covered bowler hat like an empty bowl.  
“Come on Muffy! Of course I’m going to pay you!”  
Ink sighed as he discreetly reached for his paintbrush. Keeping his hands behind his back, he swiftly painted a bag full of gold coins which he then poured into the hat.  
“9,000 G as promised!”  
Muffet raised an eyebrow as the spider brought her the money. She reached inside for a coin, held it up to the cracks of light that fell through the aging cavern and even gave it a small bite before dismissing the little spider.  
“Hm. It’s strange.” She mused. “Every week you come for dancing and unlike my other students, every week you pay in full. But I suppose that’s why your _still_ my student…..” She let out a mischievous giggled and a grin that would have frightened anyone else. “And not another snack for my pet, right?”  
“Absolutely!” Ink nodded, making a mental to come back after the next RESET and save those poor monsters.  
For now though, he’d been dancing for a while and it felt like time for a snack.  
“Welp, thanks for the lesson Muffy!  See you later!”  
He began walking off towards the cave’s exit, waiting for Muffet to leave. It took longer than usual for the spider monster to pry her eyes off of him and he almost felt her curiosity cutting into him. Poor Muffet. She would never ask questions, especially not to a good paying customer like him, but the fact that he was a monster who couldn’t dance in a world that was literally called ‘Dancetale’ must be torturing her.  
Maybe he’d tell her one of these RESETs. She was pretty much isolated so maybe….  
No, no if he told her she’d at some point bump into Mettaton or Alphys again. And if she happened to mention him then they’d tell someone else who’d tell someone else until it got all the way back to Snowdin and ‘Dancer’, as he’d nicknamed the Sans of this world, would have a nightmare trying to explain why a renowned dancer like him was taking lessons. That or he’d have to use the old ‘secret-twin-brother’ excuse. Which never worked. Ever.  
In the end, it would just mean end up meaning he’d have to wait until the next RESET to come back and who knew how long that would be!  
Ink let out a sigh as he pulled out his brush. It really was a shame sometimes, having friends who forgot about you whenever someone decided to push a button. It was awkward popping up at someone’s house only to realize they don’t remember you anymore and as much as he was fine with making friends over again, there was no doubt as to how tiring it could be.  
Ink pushed a smile back on his face. There was no point in being upset. Right now, he was hungry and where better to go then Sugartale for quick snack!?  
His brush cut through the air with a few periwinkle streaks. As he walked through the portal, he began to drool at the thought of Sugartale. Toasted marshmallow stalagmites, freshly baked sugar cookies in Hotland, white hot chocolate waterfalls with mounds of sprinkle-coated whipped cream; oh he couldn’t wait! And how long had it been since he’d seen ‘Dulce De Leche’? He opened his eyes….  
Nothing.  
There was nothing.  
He was back in the Anti-Void.  
“What?” Ink shouted, spinning around to take in the emptiness. “But-but…it was right here! I could have sworn I painted it right here!?”  
Ink reached for the tip of his scarf and shook it out in front of him. It rolled out like a scroll to reveal a long string of colored doodles and hastily scribbles notes, each one so vague it would be impossible for a stranger to interpret them.  
“Okay. Chillie Pepper for Undernovelea, Outer Space for Outertale….Ah! Periwinkle! And….yeah! That goes to Sugartale!”  
Ink scratched his head. Had he written it wrong? Maybe he’d just jumped into a water puddle to get there instead of using colored ink. That could explain it…but why had he written it down then? Had he just not been paying attention? Well the first time he’d left Sugartale he’d landed smack-dab in the middle of Underlust so yeah! That totally made sense that he’d remembered it wrong! After that innocence-murdering mess he was amazed he remembered anything at all!  
“Ulllggh! The worlds that asked to be created sometimes.” Ink shuddered. “Welp! Guess I’ll just head to Gamertale instead. Grillby’s  game parlor’s got the best milkshakes!”  
Once again Ink’s brush carved another portal, this time in neon green, and he jumped through without hesitation.  
Once again, nothing but Anti-Void.  
“Ah-bu-ah-bu-gu-gu-gah…..WHAT!?” Ink’s sputtered. “How!? Did I…Did I really forget!?”  
Ink reached for his scarf again, but something else caught his attention. That smell….Fresh pizza, spilled soda, sweaty teenagers and a gallon of air freshener failing to cover it all.  
That was Gamertale all right! It was here!  
Or…it had been.  
Ink felt a knot form in his ribs as he hesitantly painted another portal, Twilight Lavender for Mystictale. He almost didn’t want to see what lay on the other side, but could he really not look?  
So he did.  
The Anti-Void leered down at him, its solace almost crushing as the remaining scent of incense wafted past him.  
“No……” Ink murmured, his hands trembling as he gripped the brush tighter. “No, no, no!”  
He blindly cut through the air with a portal to Extratale. Then Spectertale. Then Overfable, Endofell, Lonelitale, Underhigh, Patchworktale, ReveranceFalls; but there was still nothing. Nothing but the faint scents of worlds that had once been, lingering in the emptiness like rotting corpses. He kept searching and searching, portal after portal through the emptiness that seemed to grow emptier with every step. His mind whirled as he tried to understand what he was seeing….or _wasn’t_ seeing. As much as he wished it were the case, even he wouldn’t forget the placement of an entire string of worlds! Could they really be….  
But how?  
How long had this been going on?  
What was even going on?  
How many worlds had this happen to?  
Why hadn’t he known?  
Why hadn’t he been there?  
Then, with a slash of orange paint, his thoughts were cut off by a sudden gust of cold air. He gasped at the sudden chill and even managed to fall face first into a patch of white.  
“Whoa!” Came a yelp from close by, but Ink didn’t respond. It took a moment for him to process that he was lying face first in a pile of snow.  
“Hey! Hey are you okay!?” The voice repeated. Ink heard the padding of paws across the snow and felt another pair of paws pull him to his feet. He looked up at the monster helping him, still slightly dazed. It was a cross between a bear and a cat, dressed in red suspenders, a plain white shirt and a helpful smile.  
It was Nicey, the Nice Cream man, and they were standing just outside of Snowdin.  
Underswap Snowdin, that is.  
Ink let out a sigh of relief. So it hadn’t all just disappeared then!  
“There you are!” The monster grinned as he dusted the skeleton off. “You should be more careful out….Sans? Sans! Where have you been!? Papyrus has been worried sick! And what’s with that getup?”  
Ink took in his relief for a few more seconds before finally coming back down to earth. It wasn’t all gone, but there were still world’s disappearing. He needed to find out why before he lost anymore.  
“Thanks Nicey. I’ll try to be more careful.” Ink smiled. Then something Nicey had said fully processed inside his mind. “Wait, have…I been missing?”  
“Yeah! Papyrus said you were off on a date with someone and you both just vanished! I mean, he doesn’t like showing it of course, but your brother’s been worried sick!” “He noticed the concerned expression on the skeleton’s face and gave him a friendly pat on the head. ”Hey, don’t take it too hard. A lotta monsters have gone missing lately so don’t think it’s just you being a problem. Why I haven’t met a less-problemsome skeleton in all my life. Then again, I’ve only met two….”  
Ink was worried. Very worried, but not for any reason Nicey would ever understand.  
If ‘Swap’ was last seen on a date, than Chara couldn’t have killed him this run. And how could she have disappeared too? If she’d died, she could just reset!  
Something very strange was going on here.  
“Hey, how long have I been gone?” He asked, trying to keep the worry out of his voice.  
The Nice Cream man scratched his head.  
“Uhhhh….I’m not sure. Hard to say really…You popped by around lunchtime I think to get some Nice Cream for your friend. Speaking of which, was your friend that little kid in the striped shirt? Because they seem really nice! They bought a couple Nice Creams and they solved that snowball puzzle in record time after-“  
“Uh hate to cut you off, but have you seen anything else around today?” Ink shyly interrupted. Nicey could talk your ear off if you let him and normally he’d love to listen, but right now every second he hesitated was a second another world could be…..gone.  
Luckily, Nicey seemed unfazed.  
“Oh of course! Let’s see there was you…and before that was your friend…and there was Papyrus, he was trying to sell snow again. You should really tell him about permits. Ulgh! And there was guy with the hood. He didn’t buy anything.”  
“Who?”  
“Oh well there was this one guy in a hoodie, kinda like the one Papyrus wears but black. He was just sulking around, looking at everything. I mean of course I asked if he wanted some Nice Cream, but I guess he didn’t hear me….Uh Sans? You okay?”  
Ink’s jaw had dropped open and he was staring blankly at the ground. He hadn’t thought it was possible but whoever this guy was, Ink couldn’t remember making him. As fuzzy as his memory could get, he knew he wouldn’t forget someone.  
So where had he come from then?  
And how had he gotten here?  
“Sorry Nicey! I gotta go!”  
Ink dashed off as fast as he could. Nicey called out, but Ink didn’t hear him. It was hard to keep track of time while hopping through different worlds every couple seconds, but here at least it didn’t look too much past lunchtime. If he was lucky…REALLY lucky, maybe he could catch up to that guy!  
He didn’t even stop to make a portal. Instead he jumped straight into the nearby river. At his touch, the icy water shifted into white ink that bubbled around him before dropping him off in the Anti-Void. His eye sockets burned dark purple as he scanned the area. He couldn’t see anything, at least not from where he was standing. With a grunt Ink whipped out his brush and swiped at the area behind him. Rainbow paint gushed from his brush’s tip as he made two quick strokes. The paint latched onto his spine and spread out into a pair of wings, pulsing and shifting like ink blots from a psychiatrist test. Not his best work, but he couldn’t waste time making them better. With a flap of his newly formed wings, Ink shot into the air. He flew higher and higher, trying to find anything out of the ordinary, but again he was greeted by the same sight. Nothing but white, white, white and more-  
Wait, what was that?  
The lights in Ink’s eye sockets shrunk as they fixed upon a spot in the distance. A black smudge against a white canvas, walking off into the Anti-Void as if it had all the time in the world.  
With a flap of his wings, Ink hurried to catch up.  
 As he came closer the black smudge became clearer. It was a small figure, though still taller than he was, and his black hoodie covered almost all of its body, just like he’d been described. What Nicey hadn’t mentioned was the thin black shapes that encircled his body, flickering in and out of existence like fireflies. They almost looked like words; words he couldn’t quite make out. He moved faster, closing the distance between him and the figure within a matter of minutes. He slowly realized the figure wasn’t walking away after all. He was walking closer.  
And at almost the same moment, a blue blur shot straight towards him  
“Whoa!” He yelped, dodging out of the way just in time. It was a long blue string that he’d just avoided and by the looks of it, it had come directly from the figure’s hand.  
“Hey! Stop that! I just wanna talk-Agh! Whoa! Eek!”  
A dozen more strings flew through the air and Ink was forced to maneuver around then. Left, right, up, down and around in circles until he could barely tell whether he was dodging them at all. His eye lights turned into nauseous green spiral and worse yet, the figure seemed to have disappeared.  
“Hello?! Hey I just wanna talk!” He shouted, flying left in right in an attempt to find the figure again.  
“I don’t wanna fight you!”  
“wERe wE Fi-i-I-ighting? cAUse _tIBia_ HONe-e-eSt, I’M bAREly pUTTi-i-i-inG aNY _BAckBonE_   into thIS.”  
Ink screeched to a halt.  
Puns….Really bad skeleton puns.  
Was that guy….  
VRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!  
Ink spun around and found himself staring straight into the open mouth of disfigured black Gaster Blaster. He let out a yelp as he dodged aside just as a white beam of pixelated light erupted from the Blaster’s mouth, but he was still too close. The light struck his inky wings, evaporating them instantly.  
“AAAGHH!!” Ink cried out in pain as he tumbled to the ground. His paintbrush fell from his back, rolling right into the figure’s foot.  
“hEh, HeH, HEh.” The voice was as broken and fragmented as a garbage disposal.  
Ink barely noticed. He grit his teeth as he clutched his spine and ribcage, the bones newly burned by the blast. He heard the figure’s padded footsteps and found himself looking into a pair of black slippers.  
“WelL LU-u--Ucky mE…….ANOTher GlItChe…..AnD  yoU lOO-ok like A fUNny oNE. dOWn R-r-r-RigHT _HUmoRus_   I’d sa-a-aAy.”  
The figure laughed at his joke harder than it deserved. With one arm still clenched around his middle, Ink tried to raise his head. However he only managed to see the figure’s legs, a matching set of black tibiae, fibulae and femurs, before his skull was rammed into the ground by one of the a slipper-wearing foot.  
“hEeEeEy, doN’T yOu knOw hOw TO gREeT a NeW pA-a-Al?” The figured giggled. His foot slowly moved off of Ink’s skull, running along his body until reaching his back.  
 “rIGht nOw iT Just lOokS lIke YoUR’E L_OOkiNg FoR _PuN-_ IshmENt!”  
The figure leaned forward, pressing down with all his weight.  
“Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” A scream burst from Ink as his weak spine began to crackle under the pressure. The figure continued to push harder and harder, cracking the spine further and further under his foot. By the time he finally stopped, Ink’s eyes sockets were starting to darken, the lights inside them fading.  
No! No, he couldn’t pass out! No!  
But Ink’s couldn’t stop himself. The world began fading into darkness, making the figure in front of him almost impossible to see.  
The last thing he heard was more laughing. Broken, maddened, cruel laughing.  
“cOmE oN Pa-A-Al! dOn’T TElL mE YoU’Re paSsing oUt AlrEAdy! WeReN’T yOu tHe OnE _DYiNg_ tO sEe mE?”  
  
  
To Be Continued….  



	3. Black and Blue

“HeY SLEE-pInG BeAu-U-uty! wAkE uP!”  
The lights in Ink’s eye sockets slowly returned…and for a split second, he thought he’d gone blind.  
It was dark. Really, really, really, really, really, really REALLY dark. Dark that went on for what seemed like forever. He squinted and tried to shake away the chills he felt chasing down his spine at the sight of so much blackness. He’d spent so much of his life in the bright colors of the other worlds and the pure emptiness of the Anti-Void that this darkness left him far more unnerved then he felt it should.  
_“How unusual._ ” He thought as his eye lights flickered into different shapes, trying to find one that would allow him to see more clearly.  
None did.  
“hEy! cOMe oN pAl! I sAiD uP!”  
Ink let out a yelp as he was jerked upright by the sapphire strings that pinned his arms to his sides. Now that he was sitting more comfortably, Ink looked down at them curiously. They were as thin as thread with a pale glow that matched their neon color.  
He shifted his arms a bit and felt them tighten around his bones, not quite painful but not very pleasant either.   
“hEh…thAt’S bE-E-etteR. nOw I cAn sE-E-e yOur uGLy fACe.”  
Ink lifted his gaze towards the voice.  
At first it was hard to make out the figure’s outline. His bones were as black as charcoal and blended into the shadows with only a pair of glowing targets to show where his head was. As his vision adjusted, Ink could make out streaks of color decorating the figure; a crimson shirt, a golden grin and dozens of long blue lines, the same shade as the strings, dripping down his face like permanent tears.   
The figure was looking him over carefully and Ink was doing much the same, albeit with a far less harsh expression.  
There was no doubt about it. This monster was Sans, or _a_ Sans at any rate.  
_“Well that explains everything!”_ Ink felt a wave of relief wash over him. _“I must have fallen asleep making a new world again and this Sans must have found me here! Poor guy! He must have freaked out finding a copy of himself just lying around….I’ll have to fix this.”_  
Ink pretended to take a deep breath, the act of which made him feel even calmer. He wished he could put out his hand for a shake, but as those were currently tied to his sides he settled instead for a friendly tilt of the head.  
“Hello there! Sorry if scared you! My name’s Ink. Ink Sans. Nice to meet you! And well…you’re Sans too and that must be weird but don’t worry! It’s not that hard to….explain….”  
His voice trailed off as the other skeleton snorted, a hand held against his mouth as he fought to hold back a laugh.  
“Um…did I say something wrong?” Ink frowned.  
At that the Sans burst into a fit of laughter that sounded like a gargled washing machine and lacked any feeling of warmth Ink had come to expect from Sanses.  
“aRe…Are YoU Fo-O-or rEal? yOu gOtTa bE-e-e kidding mE….yOU ARe, rIGHt? YoU’RE kIDDinG mE-E-e?” He tried to regain himself, but a few more chuckles slipped between his teeth. “I lITerALy cRUshEd hAlF yOur rI-I-ibS iNtO DusT aNd yOu jUst….fOrgO-o-oT!? iT’s bEen Like wHAt? tEn MINutEs?”  
Ink wasn’t sure how to respond to that. His ribs felt perfectly fine...Oh wait! Ten minutes. Well of course! That was more than enough time for that to heal…well, for him anyway. Other versions tended to have pretty low defense and they certainly didn’t regenerate HP like he did. With all these strings on, this Sans probably just hadn’t noticed.  
Then again, he was being pretty rude about it. Was he trying to apologize? Or maybe he was a Underfell/Horrortale kind of Sans.  
“Um…well I have a really bad memory.” Ink shrugged, still unsure of the best way to act around this Sans. “Like, a really bad memory. It’s fine though, I don’t mind getting hurt a bit. I mean ‘Just wait until the next RESET’ right?”  
That should have set something off. A sad joke maybe or an angry comment, most certainly a question of how he knew about RESETs!  
Instead, the Sans only replied with a look of disgust.  
“uHhHhHhh. YoU have gOt tO bE thE mOSt pAthETic glITcH yEt…..  
“Glitch?” Ink grimaced, trying to understand. “Like Glitchtale? Oh I love that one! It’s so cool getting to everyone working together to stop Betty! And all the other human soul kids with-Wait…you probably didn’t mean that huh? There’s no way you could. Heh, heh, sorry! Silly me!”  
Ink playfully stuck out his tongue while the other Sans merely shook his head.  
“sO Your fROm gLITchtAle thEn? fiGures…...cOUlda sWORn tHAt pLAce Only hAd OnE Sa-A-Ans thOUgh…..”  
The Sans lifted a hand, his fingers tied with hundreds of blue strings. There was a faint whoosh as something shot through the air and landed in his hands. Ink let out a quiet gasp.  
It was his paintbrush.  
He hadn’t even noticed its absence, but there it was being held by some other Sans.  
“aNd This iS yOUrs thEn? nEVer sEeN a GLItch wIth A PaINtbRush bEfO-o-orE.” He waved the brush through the air a few times, but to no effect. “nOt doing mUCh nOw thOUgh-”  
“Um yeah! That’s mine! Please be careful with it! Like, really, really careful!”  
Ink’s bones shook with urgency. Of course it wasn’t doing anything. It was _his_ brush!  And he needed it! How was he going to make worlds without it!?  
The worry that came upon him began to tickle something in the back of his head. A little thought that had fallen asleep, now beginning to wake up at the call of familiarity. He’d felt nervous in a situation like this before, but what did that mean?  
The Sans glanced back at Ink with a malevolent gleam in his eye lights.   
“ImPORtiANt hUh? weLl hO-O-ow AbOUt  wE play a lITtlE GAME wiTh THis?” He twitched a finger and a few threads wrapped themselves the brush, suspending it in midair. “iT’s cALleD, ‘I BREak thIs bRUsh iN tWo aNd lAUgh At YOuR reACTion’.”  
“NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!” Ink was bouncing in place, shaking his skull as rapidly as if it were on fire. “I need that! It’s important! Really important! You have no idea how important that is!”  
The Sans just laughed and turned the brush over.  
“oH? wELl nOW REALLY wAnnA sEe YoUr reACTion tO wATChinG yOUr SpECial lITTle bRUSh bE ShATTEred inNtO spLIntErs!”  
A miniature gaster blaster appeared in the air above him, its black jaw opening as energy built up inside it. “hErE-ere. I’Ll eVEn gIve yOu a cOunt oFf! oNe….”  
“Come on! Stop it! It’s not funny!”  
Ink pulled at the strings that held him. They were stronger then they looked and only squeezed tighter as he fought against them, like some kind of snake.  
“..t-t-TwO…”  
Ink’s memories urged him to fight harder, to worry and panic even more and to be very upset. Maybe even angry, but he couldn’t tell why nor could he waste the time to find out. He had to get his brush! NOW!  
“…thR-ee-ee-ee-AAAGGHH!”  
The sound of strings snapping and the Sans’s shout intertwined as Ink leapt from his bondage and onto him. The Blaster vanished as he skidded backwards and before the Sans could summon a new one, Ink had ripped his brush from his hands and jumped away. He held it out like a spear towards the Sans, his eye sockets burning with scarlet lights.  
“You…you’re the one who destroyed Sugartale!” He shouted as the memory finally emerged. “And Gamertale! And Ectofell! And…and…and everything!”  
The other Sans didn’t respond. He stared down at his hand, his expression one of pure confusion as he flexed his fingers.  
“hO-o-w?”  He muttered. “th-Th-tHat’S nOt pOSSibLe….”  
“Hey! I want an explanation!” Ink’s scowl felt awkward and unnatural to him, but he wasn’t going to back down. Just the thought of the empty plains that had once been home to light and sound and color, to so many friends and enemies who weren’t really enemies, to everything that he lived to create; it was….it was…  
“What Sans are you!? Where did you come from!? How…why did you destroy all those worlds?”  
The Sans looked up and slipped a hand into his pocket, his grin returning as let out a small chuckle.  
“ThE na-A-A-AmE’s ERROR.” He raised his other hand into the air and a new Blaster appeared, this one full size.  “A-A-And iF yOu wAnT MOrE, yOu bETTer nOT hOLd bA-a-Ack!”  
BWWWEEEEE!  
Ink dodged aside as the blinding light of a laser shot from the Blaster’s mouth, narrowly avoiding its touch.  
BWWWEEEEE! BWWWEEEEE! BWWWEEEEE! BWWWEEEEE! BWWWEEEEE!  
The air echoed with the sound of laser as more Blasters appeared, surrounding Ink with open jaws.  
“Agh!” Ink yelped. He aimed his brush at the ground and fired a stream of rainbow paint that ejecting him into the air. As he shot off into the sky, another Blaster arrived to greet him. Ink swirled his brush around, cutting off the stream just as they were about to collide. In a few strokes he surrounded himself with a clear bubble of paint and fell back to earth with a bounce.  
BWWWEEEEE! BWWWEEEEE! BWWWEEEEE! BWWWEEEEE!  
Ink cringed as the blasters fired upon him but his bubble held steady, shielding him from the wave of attacks. The light surrounded him completely making it impossible to see anything let alone the San…  
Let alone Error.  
The Blasters suddenly vanished, taking their lasers with them. In their stead appeared something all too familiar. Strings that shot out from seemingly nowhere and began to encase the bubble in their dark blue glow. As more appeared they slowly began to tighten, forcing the bubble to flex under the pressure. Ink quickly jabbed his brush into the thin frame and injected it with paint to keep his shield secure. The stronger the bubble grew however, the more strings appeared. Soon Ink was barely able to keep back the crushing weight, even at full power, and yet strings continued to multiply infinite numbers. Flecks of paint splattered onto him and dripped down his skull like sweat.  
“Come on Ink! Think!” He muttered to himself. If he tried to pull his brush away, he’d be crushed! He was trapped, surrounded on all sides…  
Wait, no! Ink glanced down at his feet. Just past the bubble’s foggy frame he could see the dark black ground beneath his feet. The one place those strings couldn’t reach.  
An idea quickly formed in his mind.  
“Here goes nothing.” He shifted his grip on the brush. “Three…two...ONE!”  
Ink shoved against the bubble’s side with all his might, rolling over so the blank spot was above him. Before the strings could cover the weak point, Ink leapt into the air and thrust his brush handle through it.  
POP!  
The bubble exploded into white goo and the strings tangled up with one another as Ink avoided their grip. As soon as he landed, Ink’s lights fixed upon the lone figure that stood before him. With a battle cry he slashed his brush at the ground, he sending a splatter of paint flying towards the figure.  
The figure vanished and the paint hit nothing.  
But Ink would have been crazy if he hadn’t known about Sanses teleportation and crazier still if he hadn’t planned for it. He spun around to meet Error with another strike of the brush. Error vanished again, this time appearing to Ink’s left. He raised his hand, trying to summon another Blaster, but Ink quickly knocked him back. With a growl of annoyance, Error fired a torrent of blue strings towards the other skeleton. Ink danced in and out of them, swirling left and right to avoid their ensnarement. He moved closer and closer to his target with every step until finally one managed to tangled his leg. He stumbled forward and Error took the chance take another shot with a blaster. Ink rolled aside. The laser nicked his arm but he grit his teeth against the burn and jumpedback into action, knocking the miniature blaster out of the air with his brush. It spiraled out of Error’s control, giving Ink the opening he needed. A final slash of paint erupted from his brush and this time, it hit its mark.  
“AAAAAAHHHHHHH!” Error screamed as he fell to the ground. The blue strings vanished along with what remained of his Gaster Blasters. Ink raised his brush, readying himself for another attack.  
None came.  
Error hand was clutched tightly around his chest, paint dripping from his coat like blood. His entire body was tensed and shakey and Ink was instantly hit with a twinge of sympathy. Was his paint actually hurting him? That had never happened before.  
The last thing Ink wanted was to hurt someone…. at the moment though, not being blasted into dust took priority. Shaking off his pity as best he could, Ink strode forward and pointed his brush at Error’s chest.   
“All right. That’s enough.” Ink demanded calmly. “I want answers, Error, starting with where in the multi-verse you’re from.”  
The black skeleton carefully propped himself up with his free hand, trying his best to avoid the bristles that hovered above him. His mouth remained stubbornly shut.  
“I don’t want to hurt you, but that doesn’t mean I won’t if you force me.”  
Ink held his brush tighter; preparing himself in case this Sans tried something. “Now tell me where you’re from.”  
Error’s cold glare locked upon Ink, the lights in his eyes burning with fierce hatred that Ink had never seen before. Not even from the thousands of Floweys and Charas he’d met. Not the kind built up by rage or pain, but by something else Ink was unable to set his finger on. Something that made his hate far more terrifying then anything Ink was able to understand.  
Then Error turned his gaze away.   
“I Ha-a-A-vE abSAlOUTlY nO IDEa-Ea.”  
The answer caught Ink off guard and his expression softened with curiosity.   
“What do you mean? How do you not know?”  
“Ca-A-An’T rEmEmBEr _.”_   Error chuckled with unexpected warmth. “sOOOOOo so-RrY i’M sUch A _bONehEaD.”_  
It was such a sudden change of attitude. Ink almost couldn’t believe it.  
A small smile snuck onto his face along with a spark of hope. Maybe he’d just been too quick to judge Error.   
“I guess I can sympathize. Still, you had to have come from somewhere and for the life of me I can’t remember.” Ink scratched his head as he thought. “Well maybe you could at least explain what you did to those worlds?”  
Error’s smile didn’t waver, but his gaze lowered guiltily as his fingers twitched.  
“Come on, I promise I won’t be upset. You just gotta tell me what happened.” Ink returned his brush to its carrier and knelt down to Error’s level. “I’m not sure yet, but if I know how all those worlds went away in the first place, that could go a long ways in figuring out how to fix them.”  
“yOu….cAn dO-O-o thA-Aat?” Error still refused to look him in the eye socket, but his voice held a tint of worry.  
No doubt he was having trouble understanding what was going on which made perfect sense. Sometimes even Ink had trouble figuring it all out!  
“Well…actually I have no idea.” Ink shrugged sheepishly. “But who knows! Maybe…There has to be a way to bring them back.”  
He said this as much to himself as he did to Error.  
There just had to be a way to bring them back.  
There just had to.  
Error looked down at his injured ribs as he twitched his free hand a bit more, the strings attached to them rubbing up against each other.  
“wElL…I thInK I MI-I-ighT hAvE fIGuRed Out OnE THinG…yOu PRObAbly hEArd iT bEFoRe tHouGH….”  
“No no! Go ahead.” Ink insisted, his hopes rising ever higher. “Just say it! Tell me what you figured out!”  
Error turned to face him once again.  
The lights in his skull suddenly went out.  
“yOU rEAlLy aRe aN iDIot.”  
“Look out!”  
Ink heard the scream just in time to see a wave of bones rushing towards him. He barely had time to dive out of the way.  
“What the-“  
Ink couldn’t finish his sentence. Another wave of ivory bones flooded out of the darkness in neat lines like soldiers marching to war.   
Caught off guard, Ink had no time to dodge.  
PING! PING! PING!  
His HP dropped drastically as the attacks hit him head on. He felt something like bruises form on his bones, black battered scars that ached straight down to the marrow. The attacks didn’t wait for him to recover and another row came rushing towards him at high speed. Before the attack could ram into him again Ink regained his senses and leapt into the air, the unfazed attack flying off into the darkness behind him. More bones came to take their place; some hung from the sky like stalactites while some towered above him like skyscrapers and all came at great force. Ink quickly fell into a rhythm, ducking and jumping in time with the bones movements. His confidence grew with each evasion.  This was easy! Almost like he’d done it a hundred times before…but that didn’t matter right now. As he jumped a few more rows he could make out a faint blue glow in the dark.   
“Welp…I tried to be nice.” Ink thought, his expression twisting into a scowl. “But if that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get!”  
Pulling his brush out once again, Ink took a running start straight towards the next wave of bones. His brush cut cleanly through the air and as it hit the ground it spat out a massive spray of paint. He vaulted into the air as his artwork formed into a massive wall of color beneath him, the force of its creation sending him higher and higher. The attacks could do nothing against it and at this height Ink had a perfect view of his attacker’s glowing blue hands.  
Ink jumped from the wall, his brush held ready to strike the moment he hit the ground.  
And only then, in the pale light of his attacker’s magic, did Ink realize it was not Error.  
“Swap!?”  
“Ahhhh!”  
Both skeletons let out a squawk of surprise as Ink clattered onto the ground. He couldn’t stop looking at his friend, dressed in a pale blue scarf and grey clothes that made up his ‘Royal Guard’ uniform with a face that look just like his own. An exact copy except for the sheer guilt, confusion and terror painted upon it.  
“S-swap!?” Ink croaked again. “Wh-what are you doing here!? Why-”  
Before he could continue, Swap Sans burst into tears.  
“I am so, so sorry! I don’t know why I was attacking you! Or why you look like me! Or where I am! Or what happened to the human! Or…or…Oh I’m so Sorry!”  
“N-no! No don’t be!” Ink scrambled to his feet, his concern doubling as he looked his friend over. Everything from his skull to his shoes was covered with those wretched blue strings, looping around his entire body several times over before ending in tight knots that shifted as he whimpered his regret.  
“B-but I attacked you?! And you haven’t done anything at all! It’s completely unacceptable behavior for a future royal guard! Please accept my apology-“  
“No! Listen to me Swap. This isn’t your fault! It’s-“  
“M-i-i-Ine.”  
The moment Error reappeared behind him, Ink’s temper flared in ways he’d never felt before. He clutched his brush tightly, his eye lights dimming in warning as turned to face the black skeleton.  
“Error!” Ink’s tone felt unfamiliar to him, loud, vicious and burning with wrath. He’d never even imagined he could feel so upset.  
“Let Swap Sans go now or so I’ll help me I’ll-“  
Error clenched his hand.  
“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”  
Swap let out a shriek of pain as the ropes around him glowed and tightened around his bones.   
 “yOU bEtTer PuT thAt THiNg AwAy” Error’s warning was tinged with glee. “OthErwISe yOuR fRIEnd mIGHt fInd iT _CruSHiNG.”_  
Ink looked back at the fearful face of Swap, who could do nothing more than squeak out apologies as he tried to hold back his screams, and reluctantly stashed his brush away. The strings hold Swap hostage instantly loosened, but only the slightest bit.  
“Sm-SMaRt MovE. gUeSs yOu’RE nOT So STUpiD aFTer A-A-alL.”  
“Please….let him go.” Ink forced his anger back down his spine. “Whatever you you’re doing, you shouldn’t have to involve him.”  
Error responded with sick laughter.  
“oH yOU hA-A-aVE nO iDEa hOw WRonG yOu aRe.”  
With a twitch of his finger, Swap was lifted off the ground and carried over to Error’s side where he hung uncomfortably in midair. Ink grit his teeth, unable to do anything.  
“iT’s bE-e-EcaUse oF thESe dISguStiNg lIttLe GlI-lI-LitChes thAt i’M dOinG aNythIng.”  
Error giggled as he patted Swap on the back, who cringed at the touch.  
“aRe-ArE-ARen’T yOu eXciTEd sWaP? yOu gET tO Go bAck hOmE! oH, oR WouLd yOu pREfEr I cALl yOu Blu-BlUbErRy? I hEAr thE vOIcEs lIkE thAT nIckNa-A-Ame anD yOU’d hATe tO MaKE thEm UPsEt….”  
“Stop it! Leave him alone!” Ink shouted, his fists clenched so tightly that it hurt.  
“oH-Oh-o-o-OoOoh, I’lL LeT Him gO…” Error taunted, twitching his fingers so that Swap swung gently. “jUsT As sOon aS hE hE-E-lps Me gRinD tHAt StuPId bROThEr oF hIs iNTo dUSt. ThEn I’lL BE hAppY tO lEt hIM gO ALoNG WitH EVerYtHInG ElSe iN tHAt mISeRiBLe _UnDeRSWaP.”_  
Ink’s eye lights lit up with horror.  
“NO!” Swap screamed. A few glittering specks of blue magic fell from his eye sockets; the closest thing to real tears a skeleton had. “Please! No! Don’t hurt Papyrus! Please don’t hurt him! Pleas-“  
Error raised a finger and a string promptly laced Swap’s mouth shut.  
“pU-U-UpPetS dOn’T Talk UnlEsS i tElL THeM tOo.” He hissed, his face only inches away from his prisoners. Swap shrunk back with a whimper, causing Error’s smile to stretch even wider as he turned back to Ink. “wElL tHEn, _I-i-Ink_. I’d LOVE tO stay aNd ChaT bU-u-uT I’m On a tIGht sChEDuLe.”  
Error stretched out his free hand and as he waved his fingers, the darkness began to pixelate into a blob of white squares.  
“sE-e-E yOu AroUNd!”  
“No! Wait!”  
Error stepped through the portal, bringing Swap right along with him. Ink hurried after them, leaping through the portal just as it began to vanish.  
He landed in the Anti-Void and after the pitch black of…whatever that other place had been, the pure empty whiteness was almost blinding.  
“Error! Swap!” Ink called out into emptiness, but the two skeletons had vanished.  
How? They’d just gone through here! How had Error disappeared so quickly!?  
Still Ink continued to yell their names, the infinite echo of his own voice being the only reply as he began to feel full weight of what had happened.  
Somehow Error had destroyed all those worlds. He’d destroyed them and all the monsters and humans who’d lived in them. Not by accident! Not by mistake! He’d done gleefully and without any trace of regret. He’d kidnapped Swap and was going to use him against his brother and…and..  
And he’d done nothing to stop him.  
That thought hit hardest of all. Ink spat out a thick wad of black ink that numbed his teeth fell from his mouth, splattering onto the ground in a inky puddle.  
“That is some sick-nasty jiz right there.”  
The comment barely even phased Ink as he reflected on his actions. Those were his creations Error had destroyed and he hadn’t even been there to see it. It was his job to protect them and he’d done nothing but watch one of his friends be dragged off by that maniac. He had a brush! He….could have done something! But he hadn’t!? He’d just stood there!  
“I…I didn’t do anything.” Ink whimpered as he stared down at the black goo, watching it fade out of existence. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I-I-I’m the one who should be-”  
“Whoa! Whoa! Easy brah! Take a chill pill!”  
Ink felt a friendly pat against his shoulder.  
“I think yous gotta ‘nuf wiggy-biz to dealio wiff without yo hateifying on yo-self wiff all dose un-radical hate’n vibes.”  
“But…what do I do now!?” Ink sighed as an arm placed itself around him in a comforting manner. “I don’t even remember what world he’s from! Is he even from a world? I mean, what if I can’t find him? Or what if he destroys another world and I’m not there!? I mean he’s going to Underswap right now but how am I going to figure out which one!? I can barely even keep track of the worlds I make, let alone all the variations! There’s the Classic!Swap one and the Yandere!Swap one and the Super!Swap one and their all so similar that I don’t even know which ones are worlds are ones are just RESETS and which ones are-“  
“SHHHHHHHHHH!” A finger landed on Ink’s teeth. “Chillax brah. Buggin’ out don’t help nobody. Just gunna wear yo out like a holey sock. Now breeeeeeeath.”  
Ink pretended to take a deep breath. The air whistled faintly through his teeth as he began to calm down. A hand patted his cheek.  
“Yo feelin’ ‘aight now?”  
“Yeah. Yeah I…yaaawnn…I am.” Ink let out a yawn, beginning to feel a bit tired.  
The hands that had been touching him instantly let go.  
“Coolio! Now I gotta bounce. Yo don’t forget to chillax now and don’t go dustin’ or die-i-fying on me, ya hear?”   
“Okay, thanks for the help…wait…”  
Ink raised his head as it finally occurred to him he’d been talking to someone.  
Or…maybe he hadn’t because as he looked around, he discovered there wasn’t anyone around.  
“That’s weird.” Ink scratched his head for a few moments before shrugging it off. “Oh well, whatever that was it had a point. Feeling bad isn’t going to fix anything.”  
He began to smile, already feeling hopeful again as he reached for his brush. The first place to start was to go through all the Underswap’s he could remember and if that didn’t work he’d just start searching every place else! It was going to be all right. He’d find Swap Sans, stop Error and figure out how to fix everything. He was sure of it.   
He just had to stay DETERMINED.


End file.
